Forest Hills — A teacher builds a connection with a student and learns he’s saving up for a new guitar. Later, in casual conversation, the teacher mentions this to family friends, who are so moved by the story that they decide to surprise the student by buying the guitar.
“No one does this,” said Logan Cook, a rising senior at Forest Hills Central High School. “It’s straight out of a movie.”
But it did happen, and Logan was the recipient.
Catching the Rhythm
It all started this spring during daily check-ins in Logan’s fourth hour, a semester health class taught by Paige Hallock.
“He is very passionate about music,” Hallock explained. “He started talking about how he was saving money for a guitar.”
His father plays guitar, so Logan said he became interested in music at a young age, around 8 or 9.
His favorite genre is progressive metal and he’s in a band that plays mostly for friends and family. Logan has also performed at the school’s talent show and is in the school’s choir.
Logan’s career goal is to perform with a touring band, and record and promote his music online. His plans after high school are to study music theory.
A few years ago, he switched to a five-string bass, and a couple of years ago decided he wanted to get a seven-string guitar since, like a bass, it has a low B string.
“This way, I don’t have to tune to match the sound of the parts with the bass,” Logan said of the seven-string guitar. “I can get the sound naturally with the lower extra string.”
Logan has paid for his instruments himself, and had his eye on Schecter Omen Extreme, which cost about $600. He also hoped for a new multi-effects processor for better sound quality, he said.
He’d been saving his earnings from working at Journeys Kidz at Woodland Mall, and during the daily check-ins in Hallock’s class would give updates on how close he was to his goal.
A Sound Bite
During spring break, Hallock was visiting family and met some of their friends, one of whom had been a member of an Elton John tribute band.
“I mentioned that I had a student who was saving up to purchase a guitar, just as a way to make conversation,” she recalled. They asked more questions and finally said if she could get more information, they wanted to get the guitar for him.
“I was appreciative of anything they would do,” Logan said, when he first heard about the couple’s offer. “Things like this do not happen to me, someone helping me get started on my music career.”
Said Hallock: “It’s building a relationship with the students and learning about some of the goals. It’s having a student who is so passionate about music and working hard toward his goal, and being able to play a small piece in him achieving that goal.”
The guitar arrived while Logan was taking the SAT, so Hallock waited to give him the guitar until after the exam. It was a good move on Hallock’s part, since the guitar had come from Florida and needed to remain in its packaging for 24 hours so the wood could get used to the Michigan climate.
“(Assistant Principal John DeStefano) got me out of class,” Logan said, adding with a laugh, “I wasn’t sure if this was it, or if I was in trouble.”
He unboxed a brand new Schecter Omen Extreme guitar that came with a new guitar case.
A week later, Logan admitted he still could not believe the guitar was his.
“I am so grateful to you for this,” he told Hallock. “I can’t even express how grateful I am for it. This just helps with everything.”
His next goal is to buy the processor, and perhaps perform with his new guitar at next year’s school talent show, he said.
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